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This creamy Coconut & Red Lentil Curry is ready in 30 minutes and you only need 8 ingredients to make it! A cozy and flavorful dinner.
Creamy coconut milk, protein-packed red lentils, and aromatic herbs and spices combine to create this comforting, satisfying, but totally-good-for-you Creamy Coconut & Red Lentil Curry. This red lentil curry recipe is packed with cozy spices and wholesome flavor, plus it’s naturally vegan and gluten-free!
The best part? It’s made with only 8 humble (and pantry-friendly!) ingredients, tastes amazing, and can be on your table in 30 minutes.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
This Vegan Red Lentil Curry is
- Quick & Easy: it’s ready in 30-minutes, making it a perfect weeknight dinner
- Flavor-Packed & Creamy: store-bought curry powder and coconut milk shorten the ingredient list while still packing in a TON of flavor
- Easy to Customize: add more spices to your liking, or toss in some veggies like peas, potatoes, or carrots to make the meal even more filling
- Great as Leftovers: this is a great recipe for meal prep, as the flavors only get better as they sit!
This recipe is inspired by Indian daal (a.k.a. dal or dahl), which is a very broad term for delicious, heavily-spiced curries made with split peas or lentils. While most daals use a variety of spices and whole seeds like cumin, coriander, and turmeric, I chose to use a store-bought curry powder to make things easier and more pantry-friendly.
If you’d like a more traditional recipe, check out this Instant PotDaal Tadka!
Ingredients for Easy Red Lentil Curry
This simple curry is made from simple, pantry-staple ingredients, but it still packs a mighty flavor punch! The ingredient list is short and very budget-friendly and can be found in most grocery stores. You can typically find dried red lentils near the canned beans, or with the other bagged and dried pulses.
How to Make Vegan Red Lentil Curry
This whole dish cooks in less than 30 minutes – meaning you have the perfect amount of time to cook up a pot of fluffy white rice to serve alongside it. If you’re looking for an even easier option, try serving this curry with some naan or roti for a totally fuss-free side!
- Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger, and cilantro together in a pan until fragrant and golden.
- Add in some curry powder (and optional cayenne), red lentils, coconut milk, and vegetable broth.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until tender and creamy.
CAITLIN’S COOKING TIPs:
- Chop your ingredients finely: One of the great things about this curry is that it practically melts in your mouth…but that’s a hard feeling to achieve if your onion is in large chunks. Try your best to finely chop your vegetables, or use a food processor to pulse your veggies finely if you’re a little impatient!
- Styling Tip: I like to save 2-3 tablespoons of coconut milk to drizzle over the curry just before I serve it. It looks fancy (but is secretly really easy), especially when paired with a sprinkle of freshly chopped cilantro.
This Coconut & Red Lentil Curry is the perfect cool weather meal – it’s filling, cozy, and full of warming spices. It easy enough to serve for a quick weeknight dinner, but also impressive enough to serve to family and friends. It also reheats well, making it great for meal prep.
If you’re looking for more Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipes you’ll also love my One Pot Pasta, this Sweet Potato & Lentil Soup, or this Dump & Bake Chickpea Curry Casserole!
Is there anything this curry can’t do? So far I’m at a loss, but let me know if you find out…
FAQs & Cooking Tips:
The fresh ginger adds a bit of a kick, but I wouldn’t personally consider this curry to be too spicy. If you do love a little heat, you can add some chopped jalapeños or serrano peppers to the curry along with the ginger and garlic – see the recipe notes for more information!
Yes! You can serve this Red Lentil Curry with some steamed or roasted vegetables on the side, or you can also add some veggies to the curry while it simmers. Frozen peas, cauliflower, spinach, mustard greens, or carrots are great additions!
I strongly recommend using red lentils in this recipe, as they cook quickly and get nice and creamy as they break down. Yellow lentils or split peas will work as well if they are split – I wouldn’t use brown lentils, though.
Yes, you can! See the recipe notes for my full instructions.
If you make this recipe and decide to share it on Facebook or Instagram, don’t forget to tag me @FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I love seeing your delicious recreations 🙂
Easy Red Lentil Curry with Coconut Milk (30 Minute Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger finely minced
- 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped; stems and leaves divided
- 1 tablespoon salt-free curry powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1 1/2 cups dry red lentils rinsed
- 1 13.5 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
- 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 2 cups water
- Serving suggestions: cooked basmati or jasmine rice naan or roti
Instructions
- Cook the Onion: Bring a large saucepan to medium heat and add a splash of vegetable broth or neutral cooking oil. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes
- Add Aromatics:Add the garlic, ginger, and chopped cilantro stems to the pan and sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes, then stir in the curry powder and cook for an additional minute.
- Simmer: Add the lentils to the pan with the coconut milk, vegetable broth, and water; stir to combine. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Stir occasionally to ensure even cooking and flavor distribution.
- Serve & Store: Serve warm with rice and with the reserved cilantro leaves, or as desired. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or they can be frozen for up to two months.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
- Instant Pot Instructions: select the “Sauté” setting on your pressure cooker and follow steps 1-2 as written. After you add the lentils and liquids, press “Cancel” to stop sauteeing and seal the Instant Pot with the lid. Cook on manual high-pressure for 4 minutes. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before covering the vent with a kitchen towel and manually releasing the remaining pressure.
- Add-ins and Variations: this recipe is a great “base” for a lot of add-ins, like spicy peppers, carrots, potatoes, spinach, and mustard greens. I recommend adding the veggies along with the garlic and ginger in step 2, and stirring in any fresh greens just before the curry finishes simmering.
Easy & delicious. I also added some frozen peas toward the end. I did add some sea salt because I used vegetable broth that I made and that I did not add salt to when making. The recipe is great as is but there is a lot of room for flexibility with it.
So happy you enjoyed!
Your instructions don’t say when to add in the cilantro leaves. I decided to stir them in once the curry is cooked.
Hi Julia! This recipe only uses the stems (which have just as much flavor) in the curry itself. You can top with the remaining leaves or save for another recipe!
Really delicious nd simple! Will be trying some more recipes from your page for sure 🙂
Enjoy!!
I made this tonight, and it came out very good. I did not wash the red lentils, which I got organic from MOM’s Organic Market’s bulk bin. The red lentils expand more than I thought, so it was good that I was using a pretty large pan. Note that the directions are missing an instruction for what to do, and when to do it, with the 2 extra cups of water that are listed as an ingredient. That should be corrected. What I did was add 1 cup of water along with the lentils, broth, and coconut in step 2. That worked out well. Thanks for the recipe, but please give an instruction for the extra 2 cups of water.
are the cilantro leaves supposed to be omitted?
Yes, I like to save them for the end and use as a garnish or in other recipes! The stems have just as much flavor and cook down nicely in the curry
Thank you for this beautiful recipe! I’ve tried it on the stovetop and in the Instant Pot. It was definitely creamier in the Instant Pot, but it was great both ways. It’s now a staple in our house. I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Happy you enjoyed 🙂
I love this recipe and use it often. I like adding garbanzo beans, sweet potato and spicy peppers, I also reduced the coconut milk by half. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
Sounds declicious!
So simple and so good! I didn’t have cilantro and was sad about it but decided to go for it anyway and it was still awesome (excited to add it next time because we loooove cilantro!). I used a Mekhala Yellow Curry paste for a mild version for my kiddos. I also added cubes of tofu, carrots, and peas, served over a rice and quinoa mixture. Also only used the 2 cups of veggie broth with no added water and it was a bit thicker but perfect for us! This will be a regular meal my kids love too – Thank you for this recipe!!!
So glad your family enjoyed it, Kacey!
Hi Caitlin,
Hello from Belfast, Northern Ireland. I found your YouTube channel funding lockdown and found it really useful. The recipes use store cupboard ingredients and are easy to prepare. For the red lentil and coconut curry, can I skip the vegetable broth part?
Kelsey, Hello from the U.S.! We’re so glad you found Caitlin’s FromMyBowl YouTube channel helpful during lockdown. For the red lentil and coconut curry, you can skip the vegetable broth if you like. Just use 4 cups of water instead. The flavor might be slightly less rich, but it should still be delicious. Enjoy your cooking!
Caitlin, thank you for sharing this recipe. It is in our permanent rotation. A perfect dish!
Thank you for keeping it in your rotation, Hannah!
Hi! Do you simmer covered or uncovered? Normally I cook lentils covered but your comment about water cooking off made me think it should be uncovered 🙂 thanks for the feedback!
Hi, Catherine! Simmer the lentils uncovered to allow the flavors to meld together and for the curry to reach the desired thickness.
I want to congratulate you on making this the first time I’ve ever commented on an online recipe. I made this recipe today and it was INCREDIBLE!!! Thank you!!
Wow! Thank you so much for leaving a comment, Ezra! So happy you loved the recipe.
When do the “+ 2 cups of water” go in? Or should that be “…OR 2 cups of water” instead?
Hi Diane, the “+ 2 cups of water” should be included along with the vegetable broth to ensure there is enough liquid for cooking the lentils.
Just made this to take over to my vegan friend’s house, and it turned out delicious. Added cherry tomatoes, spinach and green peppers to extra veggies and a chopped fresh chili for a bit of heat.
Yay! Glad you all loved it.
I made this for the first time as the recipe looked so easy and all ingredients I had in my store cupboard. Very quick and easy to make in the one pan. I followed the instructions exactly as I did not want to experiment having never made it before. Wow it sure is thick!!! I like things on the thicker side but even by my standard I had to add another 425ml of liquid. It did not alter the lovely creamy taste or appearance of the dish. I simmered for 40 minutes to make sure the red lentils were tender and the onion cooked. I served with cauliflower rice and mixed in some peas. All my family loved it and loads left to freeze for another occasion. This was an extra bonus to have enough for another meal. This recipe will definitely be added to my favourites in my recipe book. I think the recipe lends itself to experiment with and adding differing rice’s and vegetables.
Thanks for the detailed review!
I made this for the family, they loved it. I did add collard greens and carrots for some extra vegetables.
Love that you added extra veggies, Laurie!
This has become a regular in my house! It’s so easy to make and has so much flavor! An absolute favorite dish for meal prepping for the week.
Thank you Kristy!
This recipe is excellent … however, I never add the water recommended in the recipe. I always get the perfect consistency and the water seems like it would be too much. My question is, am I doing something wrong? I use all the other ingredients as specified. I use the Goya brand bag of red lentils. Is there may be a different type of red lentil that requires more liquid?
Hi Deanna! I prefer my curry to be a little more runny, but if you like it on the thicker side you can reduce or remove the water. A lot of the water also cooks off while simmering.
The recipe is delicious. However, it would be great if the gram amounts would also increase when the recipe is doubled or tripled. Am glad I double-checked before weighing out ingredients to make a larger batch. When doubled or tripled only the dry measures are increased in the recipe, but the weights of ingredients in grams stay the same.
Thanks for the feedback! I will look into this
I love this recipe! I have made it twice. Turns out perfect every time. I enjoy making this recipe for meal prep. I enjoy a veggie packed curry for lunch all week since my kids don’t love it for dinner.
So happy you love it, Kelsie!
Hi! Maybe I am missing something but did the directions specify to add the 2 cups of water + the 2 cups of broth? Or just the broth? Want to make sure I’m not adding too much by accident!
it should be 4 cups (broth and water) in total